Yesterday We Climbed a Mountain.  

Here we are scrambling up to the very top of  Lakeview Mountain.

 I can't tell you exactly where this is.  I know it is in the Monashee Mountains and accessed by North Fork Road out of the wooded community of Cherryville, that stretches along Highway 6, about 53kms east of Vernon. Although a very pretty drive on a windy highway, you can make good time to Cherryville and the additional 20 km on North Fork Road. However it takes another hour to gingerly drive up the steep switchbacks, over sharp rocks to the trail head.  The bridge over the creek, (I think this is Severide Creek) was precarious, with holes in the deck to maneuver around and then we had to steer to the inside of the road to dodge some washout sections.  But the slow cautions drive was worth it.  A two and half hour moderate hike brought us to Twin Lakes.  Of the few Monashee hikes I have taken with the Vernon Outdoor Club (VOC) this is a real gem and the day was picture perfect!  We ate our lunch beside the lakes and then crawled up through the boulders to the top of Lakeview.  We could see from the hills on the west side of Okanagan Lake to the mountains on the east side of the Arrow Lakes.

Twin lakes

The reason I really don't know where we were is because, except for showing up at the appointed spot, volunteering to drive as our vehicle has reasonably high clearance, and packing our lunch, we were not involved with any of the preparation.
We are members of the Vernon Outdoor Club (www.vernonoutdoorsclub.org ).  The club organizes hikes for every Sunday from the beginning of April until the end of October, (and bike rides and rambles, which are slightly less ambitious hikes, in the spring and fall and snow shoeing outings in the winter). Although there are plenty of seasoned members  that have hiked for decades and can bound up a mountain faster than most thirty  years their junior, there is a continual influx of new members, of varying ages and fitness levels,  all keen to explore the amazing country around Vernon.
 It is a well organized club with teams of volunteers that go out and clear and improve trails. Each hike is assigned to a "leader" who scopes out each trail before the club ventures out, ensures all have a ride (a gratuity is set for members to pay their driver), and gives specific directions to all drivers so we all show up at the trail head.  There are only a few rules: hikers must wear over-the-ankle- hiking boots, they have to stay with the group and no pets are allowed on the hikes.  A "sweep" is assigned, a hiker who will bring up the rear and ensure all the hikers who started the hike, finish the hike.  The atmosphere of each hike is relaxed and friendly.  And for those of us who would never venture off into the wilderness on our own, there is a sense of security knowing within the group are experienced hikers.
In the early spring the hikes are close to Vernon, as close as a 15 minute drive,  but they are still are decent hikes with great views.

View from East Vernon Hill; the trail begins only minutes from downtown Vernon

The Rimrocks, a broken edge of an ancient lava flow.  The trail head for this hike is about 30 minutes from Vernon

As the season continues and the snow at higher altitudes melts, the scheduled hikes move up and often farther from Vernon.  By mid July many of the hikes are in the Monashees. It takes longer to get to the trail heads but the outstanding scenery makes it well worth it!
Before we moved here and joined the VOC, it would have been very unlikely that we would have been on top of a mountain in the Monashees.  We would have had no clue how to access  the trail head and we simply would not have had the confidence to take on such an adventure.  But there we were on Sunday, on top of a mountain, a couple hours from home and all we had to do was join the cavalcade up a rocky road, and follow the leader up the mountain.  We were home having a beer on the back deck by 5:30 feeling pretty good about our accomplishment.
And the cost?  Annual membership is $25.  I reckon it is the best deal in the whole Okanagan Valley!